Creative Woodworks & crafts 2005-03, страница 54

. v:,,,:-,^:..^

continued from page 53

drill press and eliminate the need for an auxiliary table.

• A small tablctop belt sander is extremely useful for sanding and contouring (sec Fig. 10). It also fits the bill for lowering a piece of wood to a desired thickness.

• An inflatable dram sander is incredibly effective when contouring, especially on larger pieces that require quite a bit of wood removal. Mine is shop-made and does a tcrrific job. These drums come in a wide variety of sizes, which make them adaptable to several applications: they can be mounted on a shaft driven by an electrical motor (see Fig. 11); smaller ones can be attached to a flex-shaft for hand use (see Fig. 12); or they can be attached to a drill press or even to a lathe.

• Occasionally, a I " x 42" vertical belt sander is handy for sanding in a tight space (see Fig. 13).

Shadow Box

A small, homemade shadow box is a handy little item, especially for beginners. This tool helps you to see the cracks between two pieces and know where to sand in order to reduce those cracks (see Fig. 14).

Rotary Grinding Tool

This little jewel is the "Whopper Chopper" of intarsia. When used with the unlimited amount of available attachments, it is extraordinarily versatile in almost every aspect of constructing intarsia pieces, especially smaller ones (see Fig. 15).

Clamps

The use of clamps for gluing, holding pieces in place, or attaching a backer-board is necessary. Most folks T know-use a variety of types and sizes of clamps (see Fig. 16):

• Spring clamps with rubber tips

• C clamps

• Sliding bar clamps

• Wooden screw clamps

Care should be taken to protect the wood from being scratched or marred when using clamps. I have, on occasion, even used large rubber bands when I needed to group and glue a large number of small pieces together.

The most important idea that I wish Lo convey in this issue is that intarsia is a wonderful and rewarding hobby. Just as you do not need to spend $18,000 on a bass boat to enjoy fishing, you do not need to spend a fortune to enjoy and be proficient at this wonderful hobby.

Have fun! And please let us know what you think of our articles, including suggestions as to what you would like to see in future issues.

For questions or comments regarding this article, send a SASE to Larry Goodwin, 212 Celeste Ave., River Ridge, LA 70/23; E-mail:lwgood@yahoo.com.

sanding larger pieces and rounding edges.

with a plug cutter, for making hardwood dowels, etc.

Fig. 6. A small thickness planer is very useful in milling wood to the desired thickness.

rig. 7. The value of wood block sanders and bow sanders is immeasurable, especially on smaller pieces.